WebOS Internals working with HP on getting Isis browser and QtWebKit on current devices

It was just yesterday morning that HP outed their new Isis browser for webOS and the QtWebKit rendering engine, and now our favorite webOS homebrew team is buckling down to make it work on current webOS devices. While the Isis webpage says that the browser is compatible with webOS 3.0.5, the currently released set of Enyo code for Isis does little-to-nothing-at-all when installed on a TouchPad. Mostly because all it does is install a new undetectably-different UI skin (if that) on top of the currently existing web browser. We can't exactly recommend you waste your time doing that. The QtWebKit engine is where it's really at, and that'll take some more doing to make it happen.

Just so happens that WebOS Internals Chief Rod Whitby and WebKit guru and former HP webOS WebKit coder Donald Kirker (also of Internals) today had a call with HP to discuss their strategy for taking Isis and the QtWebKit tech preview and installing it on current TouchPads. We chatted with Whitby about what this means and he confirmed that since "all the Isis and QtWebKit items are open source now, there are no legal barriers to releasing a package in Preware" that would install this stuff onto current devices.

Of course, there are some hurdles to overcome, and Whitby expects it to take at least a few weeks to get this done. But considering that they had a call with HP to discuss the strategy on how to make this happen, it stands to reason they'll have HP's support in making it happen. We're glad to see HP already working with outside groups as part of the Open webOS project, and also happy to see Rod already flexing his newly-anointed Community Development leader muscles.